A New Spectrum Surveillance System in Use at the Eastern Test Range

The FCA Mission. The Frequency Control and Analysis Mission ( F CA ) began operations at Cape Canaveral in the early 1 9 5 0 ' s . Early launchings started with short range missiles like the Matador and Regulus, which had relatively uncomplicated electronic transmission and receiving equipment. Few interference problems were encountered and the main function was to maintain correct operating frequencies for telemetry and guidance control. The advent of missiles like Ranger, Atlas, and Titan with their complex control and telemetry systems, increased the demand for frequency control and imposed tight restrictions on tolerable interference. These restrictions resulted in the creation of a group of FCA facilities which includes the present FCA fixed station at Cape Kennedy, mobile vans, and FCA aircraft. Their mission was to make maximum. use of the limited frequencies assigned to the range by controlling the radiation characteristics o f all range instrumentation and monitoring their operations to insure interference-free performance.